HUNTINGTON BEACH : Restaurant Struck by Graffiti Vandals

A hamburger restaurant here is believed to be the latest target of animal rights graffiti vandals who already have struck at five other fast-food eateries this week in South County, police said.

Employees of Bravo Burgers on Beach Boulevard found the walls covered with messages such as “Animal Killers Will Die,” “Meat Equals Sin” and “Meat Eaters Must Die” when they opened the restaurant Friday, police Lt. Luis Ochoa said.

Police believe the spray-painting at Bravo Burgers occurred between 11:30 p.m. Thursday, when the restaurant closed, and 5:30 a.m. Friday.

The initials ALF, which police said apparently stands for Animal Liberation Front, were also sprayed in blue and silver paint around the building.

ALF is an international underground organization that has in the past taken responsibility for break-ins at government and university laboratories to protest treatment of lab animals.

Neither police nor Orange County sheriff’s investigators could say whether the group was responsible for the incident at Bravo Burgers or if it is related to the South County cases.

“At this point, we have absolutely no idea who’s doing it,” Ochoa said.

Damage to Bravo Burgers is estimated at $1,000, Ochoa said.

Similar messages were discovered earlier this week in South County, where vandals struck at McDonald’s restaurants in Mission Viejo and Laguna Niguel, at Fatburger in San Clemente, at a Burger King in Rancho Santa Margarita and at a Carl’s Jr. in Laguna Niguel.